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So, another good reason to have a smart phone! The Guitar Box app is excellent for timing and tuning. There are many free apps to choose from and I love my iPhone. If you don't care about having a smart phone and to avoid monthly fees, get one with wi-fi for next to nothing on e-bay. Or just do it the old-fashioned way and google it :)

I also need a new single string for my Hummingbird 12 and don't need to replace them all so thanks for all the advice group!

You can purchase strings on line cheap, even singles at juststrings.com

I have a Guild jumbo body guitar that I keep tuned down a whole step for when I need it for songs like McCartney's "Yesterday" as well as some other Beatles and Neil Young tunes. Because I couldn't find a set gauged for tuning down that didn't buzz and rattle against the frets, I experimented with singles from this website until I got just the right combination...it took a little while and I bought a few strings that I ended up removing and tossing (recycled them) right away, but in the end it was worth it. I guess this time your problem was "user error", but if you have tendency to break certain strings often, you can have backups handy! So, check them out...here is the direct link:

Super-newb moment yesterday as I broke a string whilst re-stringing because I got the order mixed up. So now I have 5 shiny new strings and one slightly-tarnished D string. Also a couple of weeks ago my metronome-tuner broke down, hopefully I'll be able to pick something similar up after Christmas on the cheap.

I don't have any pre-war instruments or any worth tens of thousands to another collector or player, but I am so grateful to have what I have and for many reasons, some of the based on monetary value, some on heartfelt sentimental connections, and some just "because." I currently own about 30 instruments most of which are acoustic guitars, and each one of them has a meaning to me. Five of those 30 were willed to me when one of my best friends passed away back in 1993, and so, as you can imagine, they hold great sentimental value. I too have had two instruments stolen, a 1980 Guild JF212XL (not available to be replaced at the time of the theft) and a Hofner Beatle bass given to me as a present from my wife. I miraculously (as the police put it) got them both back when the fool stayed local and tried to sell them to the local Guitar Center, where they know me well enough to think I have stock! I couldn't believe the feeling of violation when they were not where I left them in a "safe storage spot" after a gig. I sweated out 6 long weeks before I got a call from the police (about ten minutes before as we were about to hit the first chord in a benefit for people with disabilities) and they had the guy at the local Guitar Center with both of them! During those 6 weeks I tried to replace the 12 string first and realized that since I bought it new in 1980, that model had been discontinued and I had only two models to choose from that were still American made by Guild at the time. Each of those had lots of inlay and were beautiful, but not nearly as much as my plainly appointed Guild, and to add insult to injury, my best cash price for the replacement was going to be $2400…a lot more than the $800 I paid for the original! But, I had no other 12 string at the time except for a Martin D-28-12 that needed a neck reset and wouldn’t be able to be tuned to pitch…so, I had my local guitar shop order me both models and planned to choose one when they came in. In the meantime, I got the call mine were recovered. However, like I said, we were far away and just about to play for this benefit and the policeman was saying on the phone that if I didn’t get down there and identify them in the next 15 minutes, they would both become evidence in the case and I wouldn’t get them back until he went to trial, which could be over 6 months!!! I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I asked if my agent could come and ID them and they said yes, but it had to be quick! So, I called my wife, who also happens to be my agent, and she booked it on over and got them! The police told her that I must have some kind of good luck because this recovery thing almost NEVER happens! The manager, upon seeing the Hofner bass and not thinking that it was a good match of an instrument for the young man offering it up, said he checked my flyer, realized it was mine and came back to the counter…he told the guy to give him a few minutes to look up this bass so he knew what to offer him for it and then, almost as an afterthought, told the guy that since he wanted cash it was company policy to have an ID…they thief then handed him his driver’s license with all of his information and he went to his office and called the police! So, I got them both back and even though I was careful before, I am really careful now. I offered the Guitar Center manager, who was the one who recognized my instruments and cleverly detained the guy until the police came, a reward, but he said he couldn’t take it and that they would donate it to charity…Anyway, that’s my story with a happy ending about theft… Thanks, Edward